


“But if You Cannot See it, Is it Really There?”

by Radclyffe



Series: #fictober 2018 [26]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: 221B Ficlet, Gen, Post-Episode: s04e03 The Final Problem, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-26
Updated: 2018-10-26
Packaged: 2019-08-08 00:29:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16418981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Radclyffe/pseuds/Radclyffe
Summary: Baker Street at Night. Some months after the events of The Final Problem





	“But if You Cannot See it, Is it Really There?”

Sometimes late at night, after a case is satisfactorily concluded, a takeaway consumed. After the fire’s lit, Rosie’s in bed and Sherlock has put down his violin, after two fingers each of the twelve year old malt are poured, the conversation at 221B turns philosophical.

“It’s like” John muses “nothing exists outside this flat”

“Quantum Physics or Solipsism?”

“Soli what?”

“Solipsism, the idea that only what is in your own mind exists for certain”

“Is this the palace thing?”

Sherlock feigns outrage “the Loci method of recall is not ‘the palace thing’! Solipsism argues we cannot be certain what we see exists”

“Like the elephant in the room”

“But we did see an elephant”

“True, but usually when we talk about the elephant in the room it something unseen”

“But if you cannot see it, is it really there?”

“Lots of things are intangible; it doesn’t make them less real, courage for example, hope or… love”

John waits for Sherlock to scoff at his mention of the L word but instead his friend looks thoughtful.

“I used to say all emotions were abhorrent to me”

“You did”

“That sentiment was a chemical defect found on the losing side”

“Now?

Sherlock’s hands are in prayer pose, his answer a long time coming.

“No, not now. That’s what Mycroft taught me to believe”


End file.
